RBWords - Volume 31 - Number 8: August 2018
Something to Think About
Rbwords – vol. 31 – no. 8 – august 2019
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SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT –
The horror of the recent mass shootings in El Paso, TX and Dayton, OH (added to others over very recent years in Florida, Nevada, and Texas and other places) certainly gives many people something to think about! One of the most alarming things is the level of “hatred” that seems to be everywhere in our nation. Many of the people who frequent organizations and websites that foment hatred for Africans, Jews, Hispanics, Orientals, Asians, etc. consider themselves to be Christians!!!! The incompatibility of any kind of hatred with Jesus’ life and preaching doesn’t seem to occur to such folks as support neo-Nazi or other similar “white supremacy” ideologies! Frequently this is unfortunately wrapped in the flag and pseudo-patriotic rhetoric.
Woven into all of this is the debate over the causes of the terrible violence with those who advocate greater mental health vigilance arguing with those who advocate greater control over the weapons being used in the shootings. It is as if the 2nd Amendment of the Bill of Rights is being pitted against the 14th Amendment. As the debate goes on, families are grieving the loss of loved ones (lives forever changed) and human dignity is routinely violated by those sworn to protect it.
I suppose my lament is just one small voice. My hope is that those who advocate hatred and claim to believe in God will realize what a terrible contradiction in terms they espouse. I also hope and pray that those whom we elect to high office will advocate the protection of human life and dignity instead of politicizing what is a matter of the gospel. First responders are laying down their lives to protect. That is much more than some of our political leaders are doing to help us recover the values we have from faith and from the foundations of our nation. IT’S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
It Has Been Said
O God of peace, who are peace itself and whom a spirit of discord cannot grasp, nor a violent mind receive, grant that those who are one in heart may persevere in what is good and that those in conflict may forget evil and so be healed…..
Collect prayer from the Mass for the Preservation of Peace and Justice.